Wednesday, August 29, 2012

My contribution to Hema's BWW Gallery online here at Hema's Adugemane. Thanks to Hema and everyone who joined in with their takes on what some call the madness of monochrome food. ; )

Anusha of Tomato Blues is now welcoming your black and white culinary images (600 pixels wide/either orientation) for her gallery next Wednesday, September 5. She can be reached at anusapraj AT gmail DOT com.

When in doubt, you can always find details on BWW here.
See you soon with two recipe posts to close out the month in the next two days!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Black and White Food Photo Friday, you say? Well, you know it better as Black and White Wednesday, but technical snafus kept me from posting the gallery on Wednesday. I do apologize for the delay, but hope you enjoy these great takes on the structural beauty of the comestibles we take for granted in full living color.

Thanks, everyone, for your patience and participation. Hema of Hema's Adugemane (hemasrini.2007 AT gmail DOT com) is now accepting your photos for her gallery on August 29.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

My contribution to BWW # 45, hosted this week by the smart and clever Claire of Chez Cayenne. Claire is accepting your black and white culinary photographs until midnight, Wednesday, August 15, NY time for her round-up same day. Please ensure than the greatest dimension is at least 500 pixels in width or length.

If you can't make this edition, I will be hosting next week's # 46 here at The Well-Seasoned Cook. You can send me your photographs through midnight, Wednesday, August 22, NY time to thewellseasonedcook AT yahoo DOT com. Please size your files no less than 500 x 700 pixels either orientation.

For a listing of future hosts, requirements, and history of the event which I created July 2011, please consult this post.

To those who have expressed interest in hosting, I will be contacting you shortly to book your weeks. I have not forgotten you.

Thanks so much for nearly a year's worth of black and white food photography celebrations!

Monday, August 13, 2012

It gives me great pleasure to present the 346th week of the delicious diversity of recipes featuring plant-based ingredients known as Weekend Herb Blogging. As a very long-running weekly event which continues to fascinate both casual and veteran cooks, WHB has survived and thrived since the passing of the baton from Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, the creator of the event, to Haalo of Cook Almost Anything, who continues to preside over the feasting festivities.

As I have made note in the past, I have enjoyed hosting many different weeks of WHB throughout the over five years which I have been blogging. It's an event as easy to host as participate in, and given its weekly recurrence, if your other obligations keep you away, there is always another chance to join within seven days.

For this round-up, I have introduced each dish in the words of the cooks who have served them up. Food always has a story behind it, however brief or detailed, which fills the head while recipes fill the belly.

Thanks to Haalo for allowing me another hosting stint, and to all of you whose culinary creativity and talent keep WHB as a special ingredient in its own right in our kitchens.

Thanks to Kavitha and everyone who has joined in this delightful presentation.

Your black and white food shots are currently being welcomed by Claire of Chez Cayenne in preparation for her gallery scheduled for publication on Wednesday, August 15. Please see the guidelines and host details (to be updated shortly) should you wish to join in. New and recurring hosts are always encouraged.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

To skin or not to skin. That is the question which cooks are poised to ponder when considering whether to blanch and skin their fresh summer tomatoes or forgo the process, as easy as it is, in favor of ever more leisure in their summer dishes.

Although it used to be a given with me to remove tomato skins, I learned, out of sheer sloth, that cherry tomatoes, with their thin skins and small seed quantity, make for a great, thick slush of flavor when very slowly simmered in an ample amount of olive oil.

The removal of tomato skins has always been at the discretion of the cook and personal taste. While sheets of thick skins aren't quite palatable, the result of tiny fruit yields a sauce more like paste with a texture that is nary distinguishable when building a meal of distinctively shaped pasta topped with shredded Parmesan cheese.

This recipe is ideal for those big hauls of little red baubles which you've collected at your markets but didn't get a chance to fuss with. It is likely that they are a little passed their prime in terms of aesthetics for salads, but their slightly wrinkled skins do not impact their use in sauces. Greater issue would be taken at bruises or outright decay, for which the compost bin is the only answer.

This recipe can be as uncomplicated as the joining of just two ingredients, or as embellished with herbs and other seasonings as you choose.

Summer cooking is meant to keep you out of that dreadfully hot kitchen as much as possible, so put the burner on the lowest flicker of flame, and kick your feet up while dinner virtually cooks itself.

Cut tomatoes in half cross or lengthwise. Warm oil over low heat in large, preferably non-stick skillet until it shimmers and thins (about 5 seconds). If you are using garlic and/or herbs, stir into oil right before evenly adding tomatoes. Increase heat to medium and bring to boil. If you truly want to remove the skins, now is the time to do it before the sauce breaks down and thickens. Fork tines are best to pull them off.

Reduce heat to very low, periodically stirring, until most of liquid has evaporated. This will take time; allow at least 45 minutes. The volume will be reduced by two-thirds. Although the tomatoes will break down considerably, if there are any knots, they can be pressed out easily with a potato masher. Season with salt and/or black pepper if desired. Serve immediately over very hot, well-shaped pasta, such as rotini or radiatore. ~

Friday, August 3, 2012

It's been a while. A long while. Back in 2008, I created My Legume Love Affair as a one-off event. The response was astounding - 116 recipes to celebrate the delicious diversity of beans and their by-products in all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. It was a fireworks of cuisines and courses, proving that the world knew better than the singularity of the little old green pea (no slight whatsoever to that sweet garden classic). It's been forty-nine months now, with the posting of Simona's July round-up today. And this month marks a milestone, the Big 5-O. It's been over four years and thousands of recipes later, that I am very happy to be hosting for August and personally conducting the random drawing/s for some very nifty giveaways:

1) The host prize, funded by me, will be novel for the occasion. Instead of the usual cookbook, I am assembling a box of tabletop props (both new and vintage) along with a color wheel and instructions so that one lucky winner can enjoy the spoils of my eagle eye for hunting down these sorts of photographic pleasures. This prize will be awarded to the winner regardless of her/his location (I will also pay for international shipping).

2) The Hurst Bean Prize, a selection of six products generously donated each month by N. K. Hurst Company, will also be awarded to a U.S. resident. (Export regulations prohibit shipping outside the U.S.)
If the initial winner drawn randomly from the entire pool of participants is a U.S. resident, she/he will receive both the prop box prize and the Hurst Bean prize. In the event that the initial winner is a non-U.S. resident, a second random drawing will be conducted to award this prize.*

To participate, please prepare and post a recipe (linking to this announcement) to your blog using legumes as the featured ingredient. All cultures, cuisines (vegetarian, vegan, non-vegetarian), and courses are welcome. Also included are recipes that use legume derivatives such as tofu or bean flours, as well as lesser-identified legumes such as carob, peanuts, alfalfa, fenugreek, and mesquite. Your choices are far broader than dried beans. For this event, please do keep to true legumes rather than the generic French vegetable term of légumes, which translates to any vegetable without regard to specifics. More information on legumes can be found here.

Once you have posted your recipe, please send your name, blog name, post link, photo 400 X 300pixelseither orientation, and location (for drawing purposes only; I will not publish it) to thewellseasonedcook AT yahoo DOT com. Archived recipes will be allowed if they are reposted as current and link to this announcement. Multiple recipes, the more the merrier this month, are also encouraged, as are those from cooks who do not blog. Everyone with the exception of my family and friends will be included in the drawing/s. Use of the logo is optional.

I welcome you joining me for this edition of MLLA. Thanks always for making MLLA as special to you as it is to me.

*F.T.C. Disclosure - I did request and receive two bean products from Hurst Bean in 2009. These items of nominal cost were not available in my local markets for purchase by me.

N.B. - For those of you still waiting on the May MLLA round-up, Priya, who has been traveling extensively for several weeks, has now returned home and is diligently organizing your recipes for publication very soon. I will note the round-up on Facebook and Twitter as soon as it is available so that we can all catch up on our cooking and learn of the winner/s for that month.

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I cook and bake in that cute little galley kitchen up there. It's not as tidy as it used to be, and the walls are a deep tagine red now, but it's a cozy, homey space where you are always welcome to drop in. You can reach me at thewellseasonedcook AT yahoo DOT com. I'd be delighted to hear from you.